Mumbai: Addressing a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally in Mumbai on Friday, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre. Sharing the dias with BJP President Nitin Gadkari, Mr Modi, who seems to have emerged as the tallest leader in his party, said the UPA had no "neta or niti"(leader or policy).

Comparing the government to the "Darbar of Nirmal Baba", the Gujarat strongman was critical of the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). He also said, "The Prime Minister should answer why the rupee is falling constantly. I see a conspiracy behind this."

Taking a dig at the coalition trouble in UPA-II, Mr Modi quipped, "Sometimes, the Prime Minister says there are some compulsions of the coalition. I want to ask you Prime Minister, your Foreign Minister reads the speech of the leader of another country at the UN. Is this also a compulsion of coalition?." Referring to government-Army Chief Gen V K Singh standoff, Mr Modi said "the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister are of Congress. Still, the government is pitted against the Army. What compulsion is this?"

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said, "...there is no leadership in the government. There is policy paralysis." Mr Jaitley added, "Every day, there is a new instance of corruption."

Claiming that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will return to power in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP President Nitin Gadkari said, "... the Government has been admitted in the ICU. The BJP is the only answer to every problem."

But just as Mr Gadkari seemed to have managed to bring together all discordant pieces - the Modi crisis over, BS Yeddyurappa arriving in Mumbai - his party's show of unity seemed to have come undone again. Friday's key rally in Mumbai was attended by all BJP Chief Ministers but the party's senior-most leader L K Advani was not present. Neither was top leader Sushma Swaraj.

The BJP played down their absence saying both had prior engagements. Ms Swaraj also tweeted, "I respect and honour all decisions of the Party. Please do not draw any other conclusions...I must reach Delhi tonight because I have to leave early morning for an important party function in UP tomorrow."

But NDTV has learnt Mr Advani did say no to attending the rally, apparently miffed over some rally hoarding on which he was nowhere to be seen, though even Maharashtra BJP leaders figured. But the bigger reason reportedly is his opposition to a second term as party President to Mr Gadkari. Mr Advani and Ms Swaraj are reportedly among several top BJP leaders who are opposed this second term for Mr Gadkari.

Mr Gadkari, with the staunch support of the RSS, was assured of a second term yesterday when the party amended its rules and passed a resolution to that effect. Mr Advani, though in Mumbai for the two-day meet, was not present when a party core group passed that resolution. The BJP said he was visiting an ailing relative.

Mr Advani has been a core part of the BJP's political strategy for the last 60 years and has never missed a meeting yet. There is disquiet thus at his decision to not attend the rally, amid talk that he is upset at the dissent in the party spilling out and upstaging the meet's agenda. "Mr Advani said that the slide of the Congress is not matched by the rise of the BJP," Sudheendra Kulkarni said.

Some partymen also point out that Mr Advani did not want to share stage with former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, who has openly criticised the senior leader. A sulking Mr Yeddyurappa had planned to skip the meeting but seemed to change his mind after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi decided to attend. Mr Modi had planned a boycott because of the presence of an old rival Sanjay Joshi and agreed to attend the Mumbai meet only after Mr Joshi resigned from the party executive.

These dramatic events have dominated what was meant to have been a resurgent, united party's strategy meet. Yesterday the BJP president handed his partymen three mantras: Expand the National Democratic Alliance, increase the BJP's vote share by 10 per cent, and concentrate efforts on building a base among the poor, the minorities and Dalits.

It had planned a sedate Day 2 with strategy-making on the agenda. The BJP has on its plate strategising for the July elections that will decide who becomes the next President of India. Also, with general elections just two years away, it has to blueprint its plan of attack against the Congress-led government at the Centre. And most importantly, it has to prepare for Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh later this year. The BJP rules both those states and must retain them in the run-up to the 2014 General Elections.

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Will all the alarming issues raised by Narendra Modi in his spirited speech at Mumbai make any sense to the people shown below?These are the people who religiously vote, come what may. If not what should be done so that BJP finally wins elections and forms a govt. at the center?

Bjp cannot win for quotable quotes of modi or his walking thought solar panels or gujrat growth rate (how much is it, again?). Modi or bjp is not for center. State or regional ok. Its is a messed up party, better suited for opposition bench and do the usual opposition’s hallu-gulla. For getting power, bjp needs blood. Like in past killing of christian advasis, 2002 gujrat pogrom or bloody babri masjid movement. Otherwise bjp has no chance to win the elections. To execute the next pogrom, it needs to hold rss hands. Modi bite same hands which feeded him. Rss stopped vajpai for sacking modi after 2002 pogrom and now modi is out of rss control. Modi already dismantled the bjp-rss structure in gujrat. Keshubhai and kashiram are irrelevant and joshi’s cd is released. Modi is with no support from rss and central leaders at mercy of modi. Advani is a refugee from sindh and needs modi’s help to contest from gandhinagar. Arun jaitly non-gujarati rajya sabha member nominated from gujrat by modi. Sushma from haryana where bjp never won. Gadkari is not a bjp leader in his home state maharastra. Local leaders – modi has no support from advani who is also pm-in-waiting. Vasundra raje, no support from bjp or rss as election lost. Yadurappa wants to leave bjp and form local party.

Internet supporters of bjp/modi cannot do much other than uploading pixalated/pics of modi. Aam janta is better off taking the tv and pavva offered by congress and vote for it.

But there are many obstacles, and I doubt he will ever ascend to that position; it is far more likely that he will be confined to Gujarat, now and forever.

It's the wages of his sins in 2001 that he has to pay for now. No escaping that. Even his opponents within the BJP will use his handling of 2002 against him; that much is sure.

In 2002, to protect every single citizen of Gujarat, irrespective of religion, was his responsibility; it was his constitutional obligation. He failed — and miserably so. Where was his much-vaunted good governance then? Nowhere in sight, for sure, as the VHP hordes went berserk, hell-bent on vengeance. I'm willing to let bygones be bygones, since he has proven after 2002 that he won't repeat it, but not everybody will be willing to do that.

So now he needs to be a man, stand up, and apologize.

An apology will make him far more acceptable as PM to many people. People will have some degree of confidence that he won't allow such crap again. Now he might lose some of his core Hindutva voters with this apology. But I think he will gain more than enough voters to offset this loss.

The BJP is in no position to win a majority on its own — its an immature party of squabbling jokers. The BJP-wallahs have a lot to learn about how to be a mainstream party that is capable of governing this country. Whining and whinging about Christian missionaries is not enough. The BJP needs the support of other parties who will, without a doubt, balk at the prospect of Narendra Modi as PM.

Another issue is his credibility with foreign capitals. AFAIK, he is the only serving Chief Minister in post-independence India whose visa application to the US was rejected. This is not a good omen for Narendra Modi.

What happens when he visits New York or Washington or London or Paris or Ottawa or Canberra? Will there be thousands of placard-carrying protesters lining the streets, protesting what he did in 2002? That would be terribly embarrassing!

So, yeah, Modi as PM is not an answer to India's prayers, but a Hindutva-waadi's wet dream. I'm sorry.

This apology bogey is a Kangress ploy. With an apology he will not win a single new vote. These people who oppose him only for the sake of Gujarat are hard core fundamentalists themselves. This aplogy will make him into a villain, once and for all as it will be seen as acceptance of a crime that he did. In fact this will remind the Muslim terrorists of their unfinished business of killing Modi and causing mass destruction in Gujarat. Muslims never forgive. They are locked in time and just like 800 years ago the way Prithviraj Chauhans forgiveness did not work on Mohammad Ghauri, Modi's apology will not work with Muslims. Muslim psyche is locked in time. They are no different 800 years down the line. Amir Khan is an exception and he does not represent a typical Muslim.

Narendra Modi should focus more on core BJP voters who are disillusioned and dont vote. He must bring them back to the voting booths. In fact even Varun Gandhi should be activated in the BJP campaign. BJP must focus on reaching the 200 mark in Lok Sabha. At 200 all the power hungry ass wipes will toe his line. Attacks on foreign tricksters (read evangelists) in Karnataka got them to power in Bangalore. Will majority Muslims ever vote for BJP - NEVER. Muslims who could vote for BJP are already doing so they dont require an apology.

BJP needs renewed agression. Only Modi can bring it to the BJP. If he applogises I myself will not vote BJP.

He should NOT applogise and should instead focus on his developmental track record, strong anti terrorism policies, anti corruption stand and pride in India's culture (read soft Hindutva). These issues will bring out good voters else the black, ugly and stupid ones shown above will ruin India completely!

What you fail to see is that people outside of the core Hindutva base look at Modi with suspicion. I'm fine with him though; he's convinced me.

That's a huge problem, politically speaking, for him.

Because, there simply aren't enough people in this country enamoured of the Hindutva ideology.

Now as to what happened in 2002 ... It's no different from what happened in 1984. In fact, 1984 was worse. But the stink doesn't stick to the Congress-wallahs even though they apologized. There are similarities and differences between 1984 and 2002, and I'm not interested in analysis; both were crap. I'm not an expert on the political ramifications of an apology. But there are apologies, and there are apologies. It can be worded suitably enough.

Speaking of Karnataka, Yeddyurapa is a corrupt crook. He rode to power on the illegal mining money of the Reddy brothers. I don't know how to judge this. Because all the parties are into this illegal fund-raising. I don't understand the subtleties involved here.

And yeah, while we are on the topic. This is the first time that the BJP formed a govt in the south. You would think they would demonstrate how much better they are than the Congress? No, they didn't. As I said, Yeddy is a crook. The BJP has squabbled a golden opportunity to make inroads into other southern states by their misgovernance in Karnataka. Some smartness there! They threw away a golden chance.

BTW, Yeddy publicly accused his political opponent of performing black magic on him. This must be the 12th century in Bangalore, apparently the Silicon Valley of India. What kind of leadership is this?

Yeddy is a Lingayath by caste, one of the powerful castes in Karnataka. His life revolves around going to various Lingayath mutts in Karnataka and paying obeisance to the gods there. Good for him. Divine blessings is what he needs to get back to power now.

The is a great deal of difference between 1984 and 2002. In 1984 Congress was at the center , ruled by a popular leader . Her popularity was nationwide and when she was killed , the fight was of one state against the entire country . The state was labeled a terrorist state, and that was enough to secure nationalist fervor. And because Congress was so favored among the masses, Rajiv had the sympathy vote .
In a way I think, 1984 had more similarity o the 1993 riots. The same nationalistic fervor was visible when Babri Mosque was dismantled, and it was the majority religion pitted against a minority .

2002 did not have the national support like 1984 or 1993 . Hence it always haunts Modi ...

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If you win you need not explain.. But if you lose you should not be there to explain

Sheila Dixit would make a great PM.. She also has a proven track record of bringing abt a dramatic transformation of not just Delhi but also NCR... and that too, living amongst the 'goons' of UP and Bihar on one side and 'irrational' Jats on the other..!! Truly a success story..!!

Sheila Dixit would make a great PM.. She also has a proven track record of bringing abt a dramatic transformation of not just Delhi but also NCR... and that too, living amongst the 'goons' of UP and Bihar on one side and 'irrational' Jats on the other..!! Truly a success story..!!

Yay, another nice remote controlled toy for the Empress. Congress never seems to have a short supply of them.

Once that happens, BJP leaders will be carried in palanquins to Parliament!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mallu Rider

Internet supporters of bjp/modi cannot do much other than uploading pixalated/pics of modi. Aam janta is better off taking the tv and pavva offered by congress and vote for it.

Eggzaktly. As long as, so called educated ppl will not get out of their mentality of "mere ek vote se kyaa firk padtaa hai" and "who cares" and "why should I vote, sab saale chor hai" and pull excuses for not voting, Kaangress is gonna rule. I above type of Indians deserves Kaangress only.

Eggzaktly. As long as, so called educated ppl will not get out of their mentality of "mere ek vote se kyaa firk padtaa hai" and "who cares" and "why should I vote, sab saale chor hai" and pull excuses for not voting, Kaangress is gonna rule. I above type of Indians deserves Kaangress only.

The real 'support' for the BJP is in giving it not only votes but some 'contribution' so that BJP is able to procure all those notes, biryani and bewda!

Muslims never forgive. They are locked in time and just like 800 years ago the way Prithviraj Chauhans forgiveness did not work on Mohammad Ghauri, Modi's apology will not work with Muslims. Muslim psyche is locked in time. They are no different 800 years down the line.

I am skeptical ...

This is a poor, third-world country. Hindu or Muslim or whatever — a lot of people struggle just to meet the demands of daily existence.

If you say Muslims are more conservative or more religious, I'd agree.

A lot of the terrorism here was probably actively sponsored by Pakistan. Not that I know much about these things ... but that's what I feel. ISI probably spends a lot of money and makes a lot of effort trying to attract a few hundred disgruntled Muslims out of the, what, 120 million Muslims?

Hindu-Muslim tensions have been there for a long time at any rate. But compared to 1947, these tensions are much reduced today. And they will reduce further, especially if there is economic growth that benefits everybody, particularly since poverty exacerbates these tensions.

As for Modi, personally, I believe he will do a great job if handed over the job of PM — a hundred times better than Sonia Gandhi + Manmohan Singh. Modi's attitude is clearly superior to that of S. Gandhi/MMS. These people have delivered bad governance filled with scams. They don't care about accountability.

But is it possible for Modi to become PM? Highly unlikely. Too many road-blocks.